Ruth Haran
Holocaust Survivor,
Survivor of the 7th of October massacre
“I was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1935 and I was the youngest of four children. My mother told me that I was born unlucky because of the timing of my birth – Just before World War II and the Holocaust.
My father, who was born in Poland was forcibly exiled from Romania because he was not a Romanian citizen so my mother had to take care of our family all alone while the hatred and violence against Jews escalated in Romania. It took us a while, but we managed to reunite with my father after a family member who was a train conductor, spotted him on a train. We learned from him that my father who was a doctor was given a position by the Russians in a hospital in Odessa so we managed to track him down over there. After our reunion, we had to escape again because the Nazis were approaching Odessa.
For years we were on the run and I can still remember the freezing cold and the starving nights we had to endure during our run from the Nazis. Luckily, we managed to get to Uzbekistan which was a safe haven for us until the end of the war. My father was less fortunate and in 1945 he died of typhus. After the war, we immigrated to Israel and made it our home.
Eight decades after the Holocaust I have experienced a second Holocaust.
On that horrendous morning of the 7th of October, I heard sirens wailing in my Kibbutz signaling an imminent rocket attack. I tried to reach my son, my daughter-in-law, and my grandchildren who are also living in the Kibbutz but no one answered my calls. I didn’t understand why they didn’t answer me.
Later that day, I heard knocking on my door and when I opened it I saw two Hamas terrorists in front of me with their weapons and green headbands. It was frightening but somehow I wasn’t scared. I was standing in front of them unsure of how to react. Suddenly they were called away so I seized the opportunity and ran back to my safe room.
I was hiding in my home throughout that day and I was totally oblivious to the carnage that was going on in my Kibbutz.
After 14 long hours, rescuers came into my home and took me with other survivors to a safe place. While getting there the murderous rampage of that horrendous day unveiled to me: the bodies of babies and young children were scattered on the lawn. Everything around me was damaged or destroyed. People who survived the massacre talked about death, murder, women raped, and the destruction of our community. The whole trauma of being a Holocaust survivor came back to me.
As for my family,
My son, Avshalom, and two other family members were murdered in the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. Seven other members of my family, including my daughter Sharon and her son Noam, my daughter-in-law Shoshan, my grandchildren Adi and her husband Tal, and their two kids Neve and Yahel were all kidnapped to Gaza.
As a Holocaust survivor, I know how to deal with pain but this time I don’t know how to cope with it.
I pray every day for the safe return of my family and all of the other hostages.
We have to do everything in our power to bring them back home, NOW! safe and sound.
*On November 25th, 2023 six members of Ruth’s family members: Sharon, Noam, Shoshan, Adi, Neve, and Yahel were released from Hamas captivity.
Tal is still held hostage in Gaza.